I probably saw 15 different doctors with all kinds of diagnoses. Some said there was not a thing wrong with my ears, some said a stapedectomy was not suggested because it was dangerous, tricky, or its results were not always long lasting.

I finally reached into my own pocket to pay to see one of the most famous and best known ear doctors, an otologist named Dr. Hough, in Oklahoma City at Baptist Hospital. He was the first ear doctor to take his time with me. He used tuning forks to find out that I could hear perfectly by bone conduction from the bones on my chin. Many deaf people will lay their chin on a speaker to hear some of the sounds of a song.

I was beginning to lose hope until I met Dr. Hough. He was cheerful, kind, and confirmed that I had otosclerosis. He would do the operation on my ears for $5,000 each ear. I could not get any health insurance to pay for it, so I started planning to save up the money.

Several years went by, and I was getting a lot worse. I tried not to think about it, but I started working in a company where meetings were an everyday or every other day occurrence. At times, I felt I was in a Charlie Chaplin movie while at those meetings. People were rude to me on many occasions. Some of the people I worked with could not tolerate someone with my condition and would get nasty with me if they had to repeat themselves. I felt more and more alone every day I worked there. My boss tried to keep these things from happening to me, but he could not be everywhere.